Home renovations and buying/selling

MandyMost

Not exactly pregnancy related, but I’ve seen it mentioned in a number of randoms threads that some of us are dealing with these things! In the spirit of (at least done!) board members being ok with more topical threads I thought I’d start one. 

Hows it going? Any setbacks? Is it looking like things will be settled in time for the birth? 

MandyMost

We’re putting in a master bath and big closets (our master bedroom was huge, and a huge waste of space). While the work is being done we’re sleeping in the room that will become the nursery, which is barely bigger than our king size bed, and makes getting in and out of bed more challenging the bigger my belly is getting! 

I cant start on the nursery until we move back into the master bedroom, and it’s killing me! I have so many ideas :-)

But the good news is that we just passed inspections, so they’re planning to start closing up the walls and floor this week! And just about all our tile and fixtures has come in on schedule so far!

It’s tough living in a construction zone and fighting the nesting instinct to clean and organize and settle.

klj0228

Our nursery build /master remodel is almost done. All that’s left is installing the hardwoods which we expect to finish in the next couple of weeks. It will definitely be done in time for the baby, but then we have our bathroom remodel which I am afraid will take much more time and I would be amazed if it will be done in time. H says he is going to start in May after the floors are done in the other rooms, but I also know starting in May we like to be out on the lake on the weekends. 

DanyTargaryen

Our master bathroom wrapped up last week. Next on the list is turning the 3rd bedroom into a kid's room but we haven't decided if we want to make the room the new baby's nursery or if we want to move DS into there and use the already set up nursery for the new baby.

We have some spare twin beds and if we make the 3rd room the new baby's room I could have a bed in the nursery which could be useful but the DS's current room is closer to our master so I feel like it makes more sense to have the younger one closer.

spottedginger

We moved on Monday. We are living in a plague of boxes. Nothing is unpacked. We have too much crap. It feels good to be at the new house, but there is still a lot to do with unpacking, painting a few rooms, purging more stuff and getting settled in. Plus we need to get the other house ready for market with paint, small plumbing jobs, etc. 

nackie

I’m in the process of a total basement renovation. It actually started when the basement flooded before I got pregnant with DS and we had to rip out all the floors and the bottom two feet of drywall. I figured since the whole area was already taken apart, why not move some walls around and make it nicer?  Then I figured that I’m pretty handy and I had a good friend willing to help, so why not save some money and do it myself?  Three years later and it’s so close to done. We moved some walls, put in two new closets and a bar. The room is painted and the floors are done. All that’s left is to do put a countertop on the bar, hang the light fixtures and install shelves in the closets. 
The plan is to move all the nice furniture in the living room down there and make it the grownup space and turn the living room completely into a playroom 

MandyMost

It definitely makes me feel less crazy (undertaking a renovation project while pregnant) to know others are doing it too! Previously, we prepped our old house to sell while pregnant with DD, sold and bought a new one when she was an infant, and moved into the new house right before she turned 4 months old. It was overwhelming! So this master bedroom/bathroom remodel seems much less than that, but still causes anxiety! 

We figured this made sense to do now while we have the current "spare bedroom" (future nursery). We have a big list of other projects to undertake over the next 5+ years probably...renovate the existing full bath (it's terrible--blue tub, floral tile, giant space-wasting pedestal sink) which will clearly be easier since we'll have a master bath to use in the meantime for everyone, open the kitchen/dining room wall and put in a butload of cabinets along the dining room wall, fix the cracked plaster and ugly ceilings in the 3rd floor (attic had been previously converted into rooms, but they're sooooo ugly), and finish at least half of the basement (maybe putting in a bathroom, because it could be a great extra guest space). Then we also want to reside the exterior and do some serious landscaping! We're thinking one project a year. :-) 

yogapants247

We're supposed to close on our first home a week from tomorrow. I am sooo freaking excited, I just can't wait! As far as projects, we mostly just have painting to do. Also buying thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars worth of furniture, since we hardly have anything I actually want to keep. I am not at all concerned about the timeline of moving with a baby on the way - I'm just grateful that we'll get to bring this baby home to a house instead of an apartment!

TBH, I don't even plan on starting the nursery for a few more months. It has carpeting, and I'd love to rip that up and put down laminate before decorating it, but it's going to be a little while before we have time to work on that. Although I definitely want the nursery to be done before baby arrives, I know he/she is going to be sleeping in our room for at least the first few months anyway, so I'm not in a big rush.

yogapants247

and and PSA - Sherwin Williams stores are having a big sale this Friday-Monday - up to 40% off on paints and stains!

ashh2018

I work in real estate so I feel all your pains! Good luck to you all. Buying/selling/moving seems incredibly stressful. I’m not a homeowner yet but if I ever see a question I can help answer, I’ll jump in!

jhjocelyn

.... we still need to commit to a plan amd consult our contractor friend to determine how to go about it... but most likely we will be installing a floor over our current cathedral ceiling and converting the giant awkward open loft master/laundry+ full bath. I want to get 3 bedrooms and a normal size bathroom upstairs. 

Current dilemmas: the master would have floor to ceiling windows but none of them open... I need fresh air somehow. The othet walls are the peak of the roof, so skylight or dormer, neither are idesl cost-wise. 

The plumbing is all centalized in a 6’ range, i need the washer and dryer to turn around and be in the bathroom rather than abutting it, but then there is no room for a shower...so plumbing is gonna hafta travel somehow.

oh and we need to refinish our whole main levels hardwood floors because I accidentally cleaned too much and stripped the finish, plus it’s old and has gaps. Whenever dd pukes (which is a lot) we wind up scaping it out from between boards. So not cool. I’m planning to live in our camper in the driveway for a while while we do it ourselves. 

nlc8424

Day one done for our bathroom remodel. Pink tub is gone! And carpet has all been cut out but is still lying on top of old tile until he's ready to do more with it. Also took down the walls of the closet and the shelves. Looks like a successful (messy) day.

klj0228

@jhjocelyn that is a huge project! I can’t remember, are you trying to finish this before the new LO comes? What will it be like to live in your camper with DD? 

@nlc8424 yay for seeing progress today! It may be messy, but it also means the finished product is closer! 

I swear we will be dusting and vacuuming for the the next three years from all the dust created from putting in a new wall. The sheetrock dust is crazy! It’s like you clean and everything looks great and then come back 30 minutes later and it’s all white again. How is it still dusty a week later???

jhjocelyn

@klj0228
We haven’t decided when we want to do it... dh is great at talking ideas and terrible at the actual making it happen. It’d really just a floor and couple walls? Maybe?  I keep thinking its no big deal.  

Being in the camper won’t be too bad, dd loves camping and we got one big enough to not outgrow...like ever... plus the house will be there if we need it. I’m hoping it’d be less than a week to do the floors? 

nackie

@klj0228 the dust gets in the furnace/ac units and just keeps getting pushed around the house. When you’re done making dust you’ll need to look into getting the filters for those cleaned as well as possibly the ducts. Now I turn everything off and seal off the intake vents before doing any drywall work, but I learned that trick the hard way. 

klj0228

@nackie well I guess I now have learned the hard way too. I’ll get H to change the filters when everything is complete and then see about having the ducts cleaned too. At this point I have decided to just let the dust sit and I will clean it once a week.

klj0228

@jhjocelyn that’s great you have a large camper and that DD loves camping...it would be like an adventure for her. You could probably do the floors in a week if you worked really hard. Not trying to discourage you, just want you to know it doesn’t always go as planned. Last weekend we were laying hardwoods in our closet and dressing room. H thought the closet would take an hour or so, but because the span was not very long and there were LOTS of strange cuts and corners it took us 7 hours. The bigger the span the easier it is because you are just putting longer lines of floor down at once. I usually lay the floor and H cuts the ends and staples it down. 

jhjocelyn

@klj0228 oh I’m used to dh taking twice as long as expected. Thankfully the square footage is small, it’s just also the whole level. We aren’t installin anything new just resanding, staining, sealing. He has family nearby that will help too so I’m hoping it will go smooth if not fast. 

klj0228

@jhjocelyn oh that is so nice! I must have read wrong, because I thought you were replacing the floors. I love that H is handy and we both love to DIY, but sometimes I want to just say let’s pay someone for this so it’s done faster. Really though, often the savings is worth it to DIY and it is such a bonding thing for us. 

jhjocelyn

@klj0228 I love that dh is handy too! My family is not at allllll. Dh is really good about being willing if the job is too much to pay someone,  which I really appreciate. We have a construction friend we will ask for advice before jumping into adding the floor upstairs. 

Dh and I actually make a terrible team most of the time. But we have found a good groove of dh working and me keeping dd out of the way, distractions down, things organized, food, drinks, etc. basically I protect his sanity so he can focus and work. Until I get in the way again and screw him up. 

DanyTargaryen

klj0228 said:

I swear we will be dusting and vacuuming for the the next three years from all the dust created from putting in a new wall. The sheetrock dust is crazy! It’s like you clean and everything looks great and then come back 30 minutes later and it’s all white again. How is it still dusty a week later???

Sheetrock dust is the worst!!!

dexnie

We are moving from NYC to San Diego in 11 weeks. Leaving almost everything behind. I’m itching to get in and get settled but it seems like we are still too far out to find a rental. It’s hard for me to plan inspo for a nursery not knowing what the interior will look like... 

nackie

dexnie said:

We are moving from NYC to San Diego in 11 weeks. Leaving almost everything behind. I’m itching to get in and get settled but it seems like we are still too far out to find a rental. It’s hard for me to plan inspo for a nursery not knowing what the interior will look like... 

that sounds so stressful!  Good luck

yosemite2018

@dexnie  I moved from NYC to SD several years back and just having more space made me sooo happy (and my apartment in SD wasn’t huge, but it was twice the size for the same cost). Good luck with the move! Do you know what area you’ll move to?


Tomorrow we’re meeting with the architect to discuss the designs for our expansion. She has been pretty slow throughout this whole process, so DH and I are hoping that it will work out. We already have a contractor in mind who doesn’t think it will take nearly as long as the architect quoted us, but either way we expect it won’t be done until after the baby is here. We’re adding a bedroom, bathroom, and closet, plus turning our side patio (outside the master) into our relaxation area with a jacuzzi. I also want to expand the current 2nd bath if possible but that means switching DD’s closet to the other side of the wall (where the addition will be) so we have to see if that will work structurally. I think DD will get the new room and DS will move into the old nursery (it’s closer to our room) when it’s all done. Eventually we may move both into the new room (it’ll be much bigger) and make the other one an office or playroom. Whenever DD has to be out of her room due to noise and dust we’ll temporarily move in with my parents.

All this being said, my FIL says that hopefully we’ll find a house soon that he can help us purchase, but DH and I aren’t holding our breaths for that. (Last time that happened he offered assitance on our dream home, DH wrote up the offer, then FIL pulled out his support.)

dexnie

@yosemite2018 glad to hear! We’re looking in North County for proximity to my husband’s job 

klj0228

@dexnie that will be an exciting move! I hope it isn’t too stressful and you can find an awesome home with more space at a better price than where you are now.

nlc8424

Doing some searching/shopping today and holy cow the control freak in me is coming out lol. I feel so inept at this (which I'm really bad at dealing with), I have so many questions and am doing so much research. Part of me wishes we didn't start so soon so that I would have had time to pick things out and research ahead of time. 

klj0228

@nlc8424 long term you will be happy you had time to look and do research. The hard part is once you make a decision stick with it, don’t go back later and start questioning it again. If you do, it will start with one thing but then that change will impact something else and it is a deep dark hole! 

BostonBaby1

So we are already overflowing our 2 bedroom condo but luckily we have 2 floors so at least some separation of space. I really would like to have more space but the thought of moving is daunting to me. We would have to sell first. The market moves so fast and all cash offers can make or break the deal. But selling first and moving into a short term rental before buying sounds worse than squeezing us all in here.  Plus, I love being in the city and would hate to lose the ability to get into the action without a drive. 

MandyMost

@BostonBaby1 we’re in at least roughly the same location based on your name, and we sold right after my daughter was born, and the market was so tough we lost out on multiple houses even though we had offered 100k over asking (I’m not exaggerating!). Literally every house sold the weekend it was on the market. No one would take you seriously until after our place was under contract, so we had to sell first (on the bright side, selling was super easy and we made a lot of money!). We ended up “homeless” for 11 days with a 3-month old baby...we split the time between 2 hotels and a friend of the family. But now that we’re in our “forever home” it was worth it! 

nlc8424

@klj0228 thank you, that is such solid advice applicable to so many things. We ended up ordering a double vanity (with a marble top, sinks, and full length mirror), bought our new tub and shower enclosure which contractor will pick up tomorrow, and also bought and brought home bath/shower faucets, sink faucets, toilet, light fixtures, and tile. Even though I was majorly stressed while researching and figuring out what was available at our local store, it was well worth spending all morning doing this research since it went relatively smoothly once we got to the store. Finished our night off with dinner out too!

Lcardinal04

@MandyMost that’s insane, 100k over asking! Is that the norm? 

@nlc8424 congrats on making your selections! And the dinner out. 

MandyMost

@Lcardinal04 yes, at least 10% over asking seems to be the norm in and around Boston, a lot more if a house is priced low on purpose in order to generate a bidding war (which seems like a common strategy in this market, and how we ended up going that far over asking.) Basically, you have to only look at houses priced much lower that your max budget so you have room to bid over. 

BostonBaby1

@MandyMost Did you move all of the baby items out of your previous home prior to selling? 

*eta - @Lcardinal04 It’s not unusual and definitely happens when a place is priced to sell. That’s why we feel we need to be in a position to make an all cash offer if possible. No mortgage contingency and a 10 day close can make a lower priced offer extremely attractive, particularly when the other offers are not 100% with contingencies. And also, it doesn’t mean we have all the cash to buy a home outright, it just means we have to shift everything around to temporarily do so. 

Lcardinal04

@MandyMost @BostonBaby1 that’s a crazy market. No contingency always makes things attractive to a buyer. Too many things fall through when it’s contingent on the buyers house selling or mortgage issues.

I went to an open house today about a mile from our current house. DH and I are back to discussing upgrading. Oye. It was interesting because the house I saw is our floor plan but had additions in a few areas, adding on like 1200 sq ft. Made a huge difference. I liked the realtor so thinking of having her look at our place so we at least know where we stand. I don’t want to move unless I find something we could actually be in for the long haul, so we need to know our options. This baby has us questioning everything over and over!

MandyMost

@BostonBaby1 we kept the nursery set up when we were selling, but cleaned up all the baby stuff elsewhere in the house. It’s funny, when we were originally house hunting pre-kids, almost every place we looked at had a nursery in the second bedroom, and 4 years after buying that’s exactly why/when we sold too! 

tasha_ak

@MandyMost that's an insane market! We lost out on a couple houses when we were looking a few years back, simply because we couldn't make up our mind and get an offer in soon enough. We walked through our current home the day after it hit the market and put in a full price offer that afternoon. And then went back and forth after they tried upping their asking price   

We're now 2 years into our 3 bed 2.5 bath home, and every room has been updated from the 1980's original state it was in. Fresh paint, 2 full bathroom remodels, original hardwood was sanded and re stained, built a bar and redid all the kitchen cabinetry, tiled the counter and kitchen floor. We fixed countless cracks in the walls from the house settling, and even a little bit of plumbing for the drain pipe that was about to burst into the bathroom. For the first time since we moved in (literally, we weren't even unpacked and he was laying new tile in the landing) I'm NOT living in chaos. 

Phase 2 is integrating the music studio into the downstairs living room (read: man cave), and making the upstairs living room more family/guest friendly. This opens up the upstairs bedroom (previously the studio) for new paint and we can move the nursery furniture in and get started on the nursery. Of course now that there's a light at the end of the tunnel I caught my H on Zillow 'just looking, I swear'  

I definitely feel for all you ladies living among the chaos of home remodeling. It's so tough when you dig into something, have NO idea what you might encounter, and then have to live there as well! Add in other kids, pregnancy, pets, and life..its tough. I promise it's so worth it in the end. All the details were planned and picked out by us, not a contractor. And another thing we accomplished together. I loved our house when we bought it, but after each project gets completed it feels more and more like it's 'ours'. 

klj0228

@tasha_ak I feel you on the home being in constant chaos. We bought our house 7 years ago and have done tons of things since moving in. Prior to us purchasing it the house was all floral wallpaper. Luckily the realtor had convinced them to take down the wallpaper and the walls were painted white so we have come through and painted many of the rooms. We also completely remodeled our kitchen including adding an island. I think our current project is our biggest one yet. Once it is done we will take a break for a little bit and enjoy each other and the baby. 

nlc8424

We have a new tub in place! And subflooring!  Lots of progress has been made, I'm so excited! Vanity won't be delivered until May 3-4, boo. But that's fairly minor.

nackie

We ordered the counter for the new basement bar.  The only thing left is hanging the light fixtures, shelving in the storage closet and installing baseboards. Then its on to buying furniture.  I’m so excited to be almost done and able to move on to planning the nursery. 

MandyMost

The tile is going in the new bathroom tomorrow! This is the last big thing I’m stressed about, I think (and I don’t even know why). Fingers crossed that it looks great by tomorrow night, and that we bought all the right stuff for the tile guys!